[Dialogue] Lenten Devotional for April 2, 2012

[KarenBueno at aol.com]

At least one of our United Methodist bishops "get it".
 
Karen Bueno
 
 
  
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                  Lenten  Devotional from The Mississippi  Conference      
 


Monday, April  2    
Neither  Do I Condemn You     

:: 

Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no  more.     
-- John 8:11      
 
In his book Things  I Wish Jesus Hadn't Said, Joe Edd Morris reflects  upon 
the story of the woman caught in adultery, among  other stories that 
challenge us greatly.  He  calls this section of his book, simply and profoundly,  
"neither do I condemn you."

It is a hard  teaching, this teaching of Jesus that we offer grace,  that 
we refrain from condemnation of others.  Our  brother Joe Edd writes,

Forgiveness is  tough; it is a hard thing to do. With all of our  biases 
and prejudices, our conditioned attitudes and  our ingrained moral systems, 
foreclosing is much  easier than forgiving. It is simply easier to turn our  
head, walk away, and not invest. The foreclosing on  another is safe, 
forgiving is risky. We have no  guarantees our forgiveness of another will change a 
 behavior. But is that the goal, forgiving with the  expectation people 
will turn around, go and sin no  more? Forgiveness comes from love and love 
accepts  without conditions. When we forgive, we have no  agenda, no 
objectives. Unlike the accusers of the  woman, when we forgive, we are not interested 
in  control. Tillich reminds us that "forgiveness is  unconditional or it is 
not forgiveness at all.  

Jesus forgives the woman with no strings  attached. In his demonstration of 
love for her, he can  only hope, but not control, that his forgiveness 
makes  love possible. She cannot love unless she accepts the  forgiveness and 
"the deeper our experience of  forgiveness, the greater is our love... Being 
forgiven  and being able to accept oneself are one and the same  thing."      
  

Forgiveness is always a miracle, always a  gift. There is power in 
forgiveness, for the one who  offers and for the one who receives.   
-- Hope Morgan  Ward



Prayer:  Lord Jesus, teach us to  forgive. Grant us grace to withhold 
condemnation and  offer space for newness of life, we pray.  Amen.        
Hope Morgan  Ward  is the resident Bishop of  the Mississippi Conference of 
the United Methodist  Church. 
321  Mississippi Street | Jackson, Mississippi 39215 |  601.354.0515  
     
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